Live. Learn. Balance. Inspire. Reflect.

Category: Reflections

I’m going to take on a new challenge. I’m not very good at these things as they require steadfastness. And, well, in my world of unpredictable surprises, I rarely am able to do this. However, I figured, I’ll give it a try. Despite all my grammar mistakes and frequent typos, no one will shoot me, and if they are sincerely offended by my errors, they can simply turn the other way. No harm. So here it goes. I’ll give this 500 Words for 31 Days challenge a try. If you find it worthwhile, come join us and we’ll make mistakes together. I’m sure it wouldn’t feel as bad then.

(that’s 110 words already! woohoo!)

The reason why I’m going into this little personal project is to simply get my noggin churning, and get my flow of writing and ideas moving. This year has been an incredibly blessed one as I have had numerous opportunities to write for various publications I look up to so very much – My Halal Kitchen, Productive Muslim, Halal Foodie and others. When 2014 began, I had this strange little premonition that this was the direction my year was going to go. This was going to be the year of writing for me. I think I had even make a small public declaration of that somewhere on social media. I didn’t know how it was going to materialize but I was quietly excited to see what fate would throw at me. So, as the opportunities began to roll in, I took them in wholeheartedly. At times, I was a little worried my lack of grammar skills would lead me to my ultimate mortification, but I carried on.

I invite challenges. I love risks. Besides, you’ll never know if you can do something until you try. So, when I plunged into writing, I realized how much I love it!

Writing for me is intended to feed my soul. It’s my calm within the storm of my life. Being a full-time mom, wife, and businesswoman & artisan, I needed something that would force me to slow down and actually become an observer for once. It was a time for me to stop all my craziness and just make observations, make connections and put those thoughts down on paper…or computer for that matter.

I have always loved writing but I never took it seriously as something I could do for an audience. I didn’t think I was capable of doing so. Plus, I didn’t know how to go about finding an outlet. Nearly 14 years ago, my husband urged me to write. I guess he saw something in my writing I never did. He said I had a power in my words but I didn’t really believe him. He said I had a passion when I wrote which, again, I didn’t believe. Even when I didn’t have faith in myself, he did. Every so often, he would nudge me to start with cycles of me denying it. Finally after years of ignoring his encouragement, opportunities began to knock on their own and I realized this was my silver lining. I am truly grateful for everything that has transpired since the beginning of this year. Alhamdulillah.

So as I wrap up my first set of ramblings, I’ve actually reached nearly 550 words already. Not bad. You know what? I may actually enjoy doing this!